Studies mostly of theatrical personalities

c1895
Ink, pencil on paper
Bequest of Sir William Dixson, 1952
DL PX 72

The Lindsay brothers’ entry into the workforce in the 1890s coincided with the popularity of illustrated magazines such as the Bulletin. The demand these publications created for cartoons and humorous illustrations enabled Norman and Lionel to earn a living while they continued to develop and exhibit their art.

On the pages of this sketchbook, Lionel Lindsay has depicted some of the friends he made in Melbourne around this time, mostly fellow students and artists who were members of the Prehistoric Order of Cannibals Club, and who gathered at a monthly Saturday night Smoke Concert of the Victorian Artists’ Society. Also depicted are sketches he made during visits to theatres and ringsides, the city morgue, the racetrack and opium dens. One of Lionel’s first jobs in Melbourne was as a staff artist on the Hawklet magazine, where he contributed illustrations for its sensationalist stories about the dark and scandalous side of Melbourne – crimes, accidents, suicides – along with social highlights of the preceding week.